Sixi Screening Project
Sixi Museum × 706 Youth Space
Documentary Film - A New We: Eco Villages and Self-Reliant Communities in Europe
Director: Stefan Wolf
Event Flow
14:00 - 16:00
Film screening
16:00 - 17:00
Discussion salon
Event Review
Where’s Peach Blossom Land? On 27 January 2024, Sixi Museum partnered with 706 Youth Space to host an offline event of screening A New We: Eco Villages and Self-Reliant Communities in Europe. The documentary film introduces the lives of 10 eco villages and communities in 8 countries in Europe.
What makes a community? Even if they may be not related by blood, people can gather and live together under same spiritual ideas and beliefs. Communications and interactions have returned to its most natural and simple state.
Urbanisation has indeed brought a better quality of modern living, however, ecological problems arose too. The Internet seems to have eliminated distances, while in fact, the alienation and indifference between people has intensified meanwhile. In the film, the eco communities are located far away from the cities, the communes have opted for a more primitive way of life in line with the concept of sustainable development. Some communities use natural materials to build houses, while others have achieved self-sufficiency in agricultural products. When life slows down, there are fewer options and fewer temptations, being happy becomes simpler and commonplace.
During the discussion session, the audience exchanged their thoughts around “Utopia”, “Sustainable Development”, “Slow Living”, etc.. Is it possible to realise such a spiritual habitat in urban living? It may be difficult to reach the level of utopian eco villages in the film, but there are methods of practice and small attempts in cities already, such as the sustainable community shop in Shanghai and the idyllic lives of young people back in the countryside that are often featured on social media. As we can see, this concept of living is glittering and spreading from one corner to the globe.